German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp announced Monday it would scale up its renewable H2 production to gigawatt scale. The company has been awarded an 88MW electrolysis plant for Hydro Québec in Varennes, Canada, after completing a feasibility study.
Possibly of your interest: DOE to invest $160M in fossil-based hydrogen production
Thyssenkrupp: electrolyzing technology
Thyssenkrupp, a prominent German industrial conglomerate, announced Monday it had been awarded to install an 88MW electrolysis plant for Hydro Québec in Varennes, Canada. Company’s Uhde Chlorine Engineers’ Green Hydrogen division aims to advance its renewable H2 production to a gigawatt scale.
The engineering contract includes the installing of an 88MW water electrolysis plant for Canadian energy company Hydro Québec. This company is one of the largest hydropower suppliers in North America, given Québec’s enormous hydraulic energy resources.
According to Thyssenkrupp, this water electrolysis plant will be built in Varennes, Québec, and is expected to produce up to 11,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. Both hydrogen and oxygen byproducts will be used in a biofuel plant, which will work from residual waste for the transportation sector.
With a considerable capacity, this plant will be one of the world’s first and biggest production facilities for green hydrogen. The commissioning of the project is scheduled for late 2023.
Water electrolysis is the critical technology for decarbonizing the industrial sector as, to date, it is the only scaled technology for producing green hydrogen.
Green raw materials only become economically viable if produced and used on an industrial scale, as this is the only way that scaling effects can be reflected in an improved cost structure. Linking electrolysis to hydropower could be incredibly efficient because green hydrogen is cheaper to produce when electrolyzers work around the clock.
Reception
Thyssenkrupp’s water electrolysis technology offers the world’s most extensive standard modules, which can be easily combined to achieve capacities in the multi-MW and GW range.
“This project is an excellent illustration of how important the interaction of secure access to competitive renewable energy and the use of scaled technology for hydrogen production is;“ said Sami Pelkonen, chief executive of Thyssenkrupp’s chemical & process technologies business unit.
Denis Krude, chief executive of Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers; added: “Quebec as a region and Hydro-Québec as a customer offer ideal conditions for installing our water electrolysis technology on a multi-megawatt scale for the first time.”
In this regard, the company stressed the need for scaled technology for producing green hydrogen for it to become economically viable. The conglomerate said it offers its electrolysis technology in the world’s most extensive standard modules, which can be easily combined to achieve capacities in the multi-megawatt and gigawatt range.
“With the expansion of our annual supply chain to one gigawatt, our large standard modules, and the global presence of our company as an EPC supplier, we already have an ideal starting position in a market that is becoming more dynamic,” said Christoph Noeres, head of green hydrogen at Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers.
